Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Top Shop - Coming to Soho




Hi all and Happy Halloween. First, please enjoy some great costumes I encountered at a party in Williamsburg this past weekend. Nothing like a late-night taco and PBR.

Second, excuse my continued laziness. I am sicker today than I was yesterday, so I am allowing my friends at Racked.com do the talking for me today:

Thought you might be interested in the news that British retailer Topshop, long rumored to be planning an NYC store, has decided to open in Soho at 278 Broadway. http://racked.com/archives/2007/10/31/exclusive_topshop_coming_to.php

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Prescriptives Lash Finder

OK, I admit I am being totally lazy today, but I have a wicked cold and everything seems to be going wrong at my day job, so bear with me as my creativity wanes. However, I am eyelash-challenged, so this is actually a topic of interest --

Prescriptives, the cosmetics brand that embraces all women, all skins, and all ages has created a fantastic tool to help find your PERFECT mascara. Prescriptives presents LASH FINDER, the interactive site that will help you create the look you want with the mascara that's best for you.
Four “how-to” videos featuring Prescriptives’ Director of Artistry and QVC® spokesperson, Jillian Veran will help you choose the right lash look:

  • 24-Hour Lashes (featuring Here To Stay 24-Hour Longear Mascara)Long
  • Luxe Lashes (featuring Lash Envy Volumizing Mascara) Curled, Conditioned
  • Lashes (featuring False Eyelashes Plush Mascara)
  • Beyond Long Lashes (featuring Beyond long Maximum Length Mascara)

Monday, October 29, 2007

My Hat is Dead! Long Live My Hat!

I recently learned that my two favorite hats in the world were lost amongst all of the post-fire craziness. They made it to Fabric Renewal for cleaning, and were - in theory - delivered to me with my initial "RUSH" items...but I never got them and didn't know it until last week.

So I did what any normal clothes-freak would do. I freaked. And I searched. I called everyone. I even sent emails to the stores where I bought them hoping that I could get replacements. But no dice...

Well not exactly. This weekend I visited Barbara Feinman where I purchased two hats. The pictured lid may arguably best the one that was lost in transit. Although the photo does little to depict that. I am slowly coming out of my lost-hat-depression. Rejoice!

Friday, October 26, 2007

WSJ: Fashion Bullies Attack -- In Middle School

Wow. The meanies are meaner than EVER these days. Back when I was in middle school the kids who wore lots of expensive clothes actually got MADE FUN OF for it. At the time the main culprit was Guess, which goes to show you the difference between then and now (Dolce & Gabbana for kids?!).


When I was still in elementary school, designer jeans a la Jordache and Sassoon were all the rage (yes I am tragically dating myself), so the moms in the neighborhood made a pact that NONE of us would have them. It was a noble cause, but when one girl's aunt bought her hot pink Gloria Vanderbilt's, then all bets were off and my mom bought me some Jordache as well as my own purple GV outfit. Yes, purple pants and a lavender "woolly mammoth" shirt. But she got them as discounted prices, I assure you.


Read on for why money is not a good thing in more ways than one - fashion should be about personal taste and style and not about being beaten down because you don't wear the right label...unless of course you are wearing Skechers, and then you should be beaten:


Fashion Bullies Attack -- In Middle School --- As More Designers Target Kids, Label-Consciousness Grows; The Snarky 'Nice Clothes'
By Vanessa O'Connell
25 October 2007

The Wall Street Journal

Aryana McPike, a sixth-grader from Springfield, Ill., has a closet full of designer clothes from Dolce & Gabbana, Juicy Couture, True Religion and Seven For All Mankind. But her wardrobe, carefully selected by a fashion-conscious mother, hasn't won her friends at school.
Kids in her class recently instructed her that she was wearing the wrong brands. She should wear Apple Bottoms jeans by the rapper Nelly, they told her, and designer sneakers, such as Air Force 1 by Nike. She came home complaining to her mother that "all the girls want to know if I will ever come to school without being so dressed up."
Teen and adolescent girls have long used fashion as a social weapon. In 1944, Eleanor Estes wrote "The Hundred Dresses," a book about a Polish girl who is made fun of for wearing the same shabby dress to school each day. The film "Mean Girls" in 2004 focused on fashion-conscious cliques among high-school teens. But today, guidance counselors and psychologists say, fashion bullying is reaching a new level of intensity as more designers launch collections targeted at kids.
As a result, an increasing number of school and community programs focused on girl-on-girl bullying are addressing peer pressure and the sizable role clothing plays in girls' identity. In Pennsylvania, California, Maryland and several other states, for instance, community groups and some schools have started Club or Camp Ophelia, a pair of programs developed by Penn State professor and author Cheryl Dellasega that teach girls relationship skills. A "Bully Quiz" the girls take asks, "Have you stopped being friends with someone because she wore clothes you didn't like?"
Dorothy Espelage, a professor of educational psychology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, who has studied teenage behavior for 14 years, says she has seen an increase in "bullying related to clothes." She attributes that to the proliferation of designer brands and the display of labels in ads. In the more than 20 states where she has studied teens, she has been surprised by how kids revere those they perceive to have the best clothes. Having access to designer clothing affords some kids "the opportunity to become popular -- and that protects you and gives you social power and leverage over others," she says.
Over the past three years, numerous designers have targeted the lucrative children's and teens' markets. Little Marc, the kids' clothing label by New York designer Marc Jacobs, expanded its line this winter and dropped its price, making it more accessible to a greater number of shoppers. The French luxury label Chloe, Milan-based Missoni and Italian designer Alberta Ferretti are launching new kids' labels for spring or summer next year. Other designer kids' lines include Dolce & Gabbana, Armani and Burberry, while Michael Kors, Coach, Dooney & Bourke and Dior have been targeting teens or kids with accessories.
Retailers, too, have rushed to cash in, opening offshoots of their boutiques specifically for children. Cantaloup and Scoop, which sell designer clothing for women in New York, now have Cantaloup Kids and Scoop Kids boutiques that carry a similar selection of designers for their customers' daughters and sons.
The greater focus on fashion in teen magazines and on TV has increased girls' awareness of designer labels. "The market has become more sophisticated," says Fiona Coleman, children's trends editor for WGSN, a fashion-consulting service. Kids today follow not only what celebrities wear, but also what their children wear, she says. Brooklyn Beckham, the son of soccer star David Beckham, was photographed wearing Junior Dolce & Gabbana in magazines as a toddler, propelling the brand into the limelight. Madonna's daughter Lourdes Leon, who has her own stylist, has appeared in magazines wearing Juicy Couture tracksuits.
School guidance counselor Angie Dooley sees the love of labels at Lawrence Junior High School in Fairfield, Maine, where some girls wear the same few brand-name items they own again and again. "They don't want anyone to know that's all they have," Ms. Dooley says.
In one study, more than one-third of middle-school students responded "yes" when asked whether they are bullied because of the clothes they wear. Susan M. Swearer, associate professor of school psychology at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, surveyed a total of more than 1,000 students at five Midwestern middle schools from 1999 to 2004, with about 56% of the sample female. While the prevalence of fashion bullies was greater in wealthy cities and towns, where more designer clothing is available, she found the problem is significant in poorer communities, too.
Teens and adolescents are expected to wear not just any designer brands but the "right" ones. "The better brands you wear, the more popular you are," says Becky Gilker, a 13-year-old eighth-grader from Sherwood Park in the Canadian province of Alberta. "If you don't wear those things you get criticized." In many schools, the most expensive designer goods, such as those by Chanel or Louis Vuitton, have the highest social ranking among girls. But popular teen brands such as American Eagle, Abercrombie & Fitch and Aeropostale are also important. Miss Gilker says Hollister and Roxy are big logos at her school.
But even the wrong color can bring put-downs, Miss Gilker notes. When she wears pink, she says, "I get the snarky 'Nice clothes!' when people walk by in the halls." Her mom, Karin Gilker, who is 44, says she has tried to explain to her daughter that she should ignore such comments and wear what she likes. She also has tried explaining that "pink looks wonderful on her -- she's a blonde -- and she looks really good in it."
Several new programs are trying to help parents, teachers and girls cope with bullying. In Maine, a nonprofit called Hardy Girls Healthy Women has developed a curriculum that has caught on at a number of junior high schools and is being adopted in after-school programs in Florida, Ohio, New York and other states. The program encourages young girls to build coalitions and gets them to look more closely at the messages they get from the media, including those about fashion and clothing.
In June, a national conference on "Relational Aggression, Mean Girls and Other Forms of Bullying" in Las Vegas drew more than 800 teachers, educators and counselors. Many of the sessions focused on the role the media plays in putting social pressure on girls regarding fashion and appearance.
Susan Bowman, vice president of Developmental Resources, a Chapin, S.C., educational consulting firm that put on the conference, told the audience that for many girls, the answer to the question "What do I wear?" seems to define who they are. In 2005, Developmental Resources began holding a series of "Mean Girls" workshops for educators around the country. The workshops, she says, explore why fashion is such an important part of a girl's identity, and how that, in turn, "creates even more social pressure on the 'have nots.'"
Some psychologists believe that fashion bullying is happening at younger and younger ages. Megan Flynn, director of children's services at Westchester Jewish Community Services, says she has recently begun using an anti-bullying program with girls in the fifth and sixth grades, as well as with older students. The program, she says, provides "a process where they can take a closer look at the messages they get" in the media.
Aryana's mom, Ava McPike, feels it is important that Aryana not be pressured to conform to the dressed-down standard at her school. She believes that generally other people favor those who "look good -- the cute kids," says Ms. McPike, who drives to Neiman Marcus in St. Louis, Mo., with her daughter to help pick out clothes. But Ms. McPike does give in every now and then. She recently bought two Ralph Lauren dresses, in pink and green, and her daughter rejected them, because, her mom suspects, they wouldn't pass muster with her classmates.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Doc's Cider at Bar Great Harry

Have you been to Bar Great Harry on Smith St. in Brooklyn? Well, if you are a beer aficionado you need to go. I am actually not. But I love cider (such a girl, I know). I have asked the fine proprietor of the Bar at least 12 times what the cider they carry is called, because it is the best dern cider I have ever had. He writes, and I quote:

"The cider you like is Doc's. It's the only one we carry. It's a bit expensive, but it is good as hell."

Doc's Draft® Hard Apple Cider
This cider is semi-dry and wonderfully effervescent with a remarkably fresh apple nose. Its crisp, fruit forward taste and a clean, refreshing finish, have won our cider countless awards and praise. (4.5% alcohol)

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Sample Sale: Chaiken, Oct. 23-26

The time for sample sales is certainly upon us. I haven't checked this one out yet, but while standing on line for the Elie Tahari sample sale yesterday a woman urged me to check out the Chaiken sale as well.

261 W. 36th St. near Seventh Ave. 2nd Fl.
They take credit cards.

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Elie Tahari SAMPLE SALE: Oct. 23 - 27

Git over there now! NOW. The Elie Tahari sample sale is taking place now at 510 Fifth Ave. @ 43rd St. (entrance on south side of 43rd St.). They take credit cards!

There is a long line of mostly women waiting on the sidewalk. This is seemingly annoying at first, until you finally get to enter the sale and realize it's probably a good idea - minimizing the number of people inside makes for a much better sample sale shopping experience. However, you have to hand over everything upon entry and you will also end up waiting on line to get in the dressing room for about 10-15 minutes.

BUT IT IS WORTH IT.

I just spent $766 on pants, coat, jackets (2), top, skirt. Not a small sum, but would have cost me at least double (nay triple!) that at retail. And as a result, I would have bought nothing.

I find that Elie Tahari's sizing isn't exactly made for a guerilla like me - I need bigger tops (size 12) and smaller bottoms (size 8) than my usual - and they still tend to run a little too small on top and big on bottom. This is sort of the story of my sizing life. Bottom line is sample sales - shoot any sale - damn ANY SHOPPING - is usually best for those of you in the skinny size 6 or smaller realm. Of course you will never look as Marilyn-Jane-Pamela hot as I do. So there.

I will try to get some pics of my finds to post soon. I may even go back again later!

Monday, October 22, 2007

Closet Envy




OK, not only do I still not have my own apartment, but the apartment I am living in is about as big as my friend's sister's closet, pictured here. I almost fainted. Or moved in. I NEED THIS CLOSET. Look at the shoe racks! And the amount of clothes this woman has (many with the tags still on them)? Far more than me, the Guerilla Shopper! I think it is only fair that I am allowed to set up my own closet/clothing charity for the benefit of ME. Who else is more deserving?

Friday, October 19, 2007

Delman Shoes Sample Sale: Nov. 1-3

It's that time of year for the overcrowded, overpriced Delman sample sale. But I know lots of you are into that kind of thing, so...

Delman Sample Sale
When: Thurs., Nov. 1 - Sat., Nov. 3; 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Where: Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th St., 4th Floor (between 6th - 7th Aves.)
What: Fall and Winter 2007 styles. All sizes.

Be warned: No strollers or large bags. All items must be checked before entering

Payment options: AmEx, MC, Visa & CASH. No checks.

-All Sales Final-

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Portolano Sample Sale: Oct. 22 - Oct. 26

I think a lot of you are clamoring for the latest word on the Portolano sample sale, where you can get designer gloves, knits, small leather goods, handbags, ties, cashmere coordinates, hosiery - however, in my mind, the only real reason to go is for the leather gloves.

Well, here are the 'tails:
15 W. 37th St., 11th Floor
NYC
Monday Oct. 22 - Friday, Oct. 26
10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
212-719-4403 ext. 112

No refunds or exchanges. Major credit cards accepted.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Olga Kapustina Sample Sale: Oct. 18-20

I really want to keep this one all to myself, but I'm trying to spread the good karma! See all details above.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

HOUSING WORKS THRIFT SHOPS' 4th ANNUAL FASHION FOR ACTION BENEFIT


HOUSING WORKS THRIFT SHOPS ANNOUNCES FASHION FOR ACTION

WHAT: A three-day charitable event commencing with a VIP reception—hosted by honorary chair Rashida Jones and featuring exclusive preview shopping and a silent auction—followed by an incredible three-day sale of $1 million worth of brand-new merchandise from Adam + Eve, Bottega Veneta, Burberry, Calvin Klein, Coach, Charlotte Ronson, Diesel, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Dsquared, Energie, Ermenegildo Zegna, Fendi, Hugo Boss, Issey Miyake, Jane Mayle, Juicy Couture, Libertine, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Narciso Rodriguez, Paul Smith, Theory and dozens more.

WHEN:
VIP RECEPTION- Thursday, Nov. 8, 6:30 PM to 9 PM
SHOPPING- Friday and Saturday, Nov. 9 and 10, 10 AM to 7 PM Monday, Nov. 11, Noon to 6 PM

BENEFIT INFORMATION:
Exclusive preview shopping, cocktails,hors d'oeuvres, silent auction, DJ Tickets: $100 to $1,000, 212-645-8111 x164 or http://www.fashion4action.com/

WHERE:
BENEFIT- The Rubin Museum150 West 17th Street, between Sixth and Seventh Avenues
SHOPPING- Housing Works Thrift Shops Chelsea flagship, 143 West 17th Street, 212-366-0820

BENEFITING:
Housing Works, the nation's largest grassroots AIDS service organization, dedicated to ending the twin crises of AIDS and homelessness.

PRICES:
Merchandise 70-80% off retail price

METHOD OF PAYMENT:
MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Cash

Monday, October 15, 2007

Get Your Credit Reports (for free)!

If you never have, or haven't yet this year, go get your credit reports. Just visit AnnualCreditReport and you will be guided through to Equifax, Experian and TransUnion where you can get your credit reports for free. AnnualCreditReport is a site set up by the big three credit reporting agencies in the United States to furnish free annual credit reports as required by federal law. There will be pages along the way asking you if you want to buy your credit score, or sign up for a subscription - doing so is up to you. But to get your report you don't have to pay a thing.

Why is it important to do this? Mainly to check and see if there's any misinformation about you or your credit history on record. Any negative information can impact your credit score, which can in turn impact your ability to get credit. And God forbid this ever impacts on your ability to shop for bargains!

I just got mine and am wondering what the heck a couple of credit cards listed under my name actually are...I have no idea.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

My First Consignment: Designer Resale

In a continued effort to fit all of my apparel into the smaller, temporary dwelling, I did some real sole-searching and parted with a few items that I have been hanging onto for various (strange) reasons. For the first time in my life I thought I'd give the consignment route a shot - I mean why not make some cash on the side? So I pulled out shoes, a suit, a dress, skirt, pants and a shirt and hustled them over to Designer Resale Corp. on 324 East 81st St. Cutting to the chase - the above pictured Betsey Johnson flats were the only thing they accepted. Haha... I guess this is what happens when you are so fashion-forward that the labels you are a slave to are unappreciated by the masses. So I skipped myself on over to the Spence-Chapin Thrift Shop at 1473 Third Ave. and donated the rest...

Well-Dressed Man: Video

Do you know any? I didn't think so...

Well I've recently been informed that ShopVogue.TV's "60-seconds to chic" fashion video series offers tips on how to become the Well Dressed Man. I think I may have even figured out how to download the video right here on Guerilla Shopper NYC!

What's ShopVogue.TV? You might ask...Well, they tell me it is the first-ever broadband network for fashion, beauty and culture. Viewers can make purchases as they look at more than 500 ads, shop while they watch episodes of exclusive interviews and trade secrets, and share photographs of their own great finds and fashion inspirations by posting them on the site’s FashionUShare channel.

Friday, October 12, 2007

DSW Shoe Sale: Starts Oct. 18

DSW is offering up to 50 percent off select styles starting on Thursday, October 18. And for those of you foresightful enough to be a DSW Rewards Member, you will receive 500 bonus points on every purchase, during the first four days of the sale.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

BCBG Max Azria - 5th 'n' 40th

I have been scoping out the new BCBG Maxazria store on the northeast corner of 5th Avenue and 40th St., which used to house a Pier 1 Imports, if I am not mistaken.

Today there were boxes being delivered, the contents of which I do not know. But a quick peek inside the joint tells me that there's still a while to go until this latest palace of retail therapy opens to the public.

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

PANTS Pants pants

I am a staunch advocate of pants. I like wearing them. I like shopping for them. In my next life I hope to be a pair of well-constructed pants, preferably black. The one thing I don't love about pants is the price for a good pair. So a friend suggested that I use H&M in my quest for decent pants at a low price. She was right! I just bought 3 pairs of black pants there last night for a sum total of $95 (straight, high-waisted, cords). Now, I have to get them shortened, and possibly taken in a tiny bit, but it will be well worth it.

So how do they offer the public such low-cost trousers? Well, for one, they are not lined. For another, they aren't really meant to last a lifetime. And lastly, they have some kind of Santeria business methodology going on over there at H&M that we as mere mortals are not privy to, lest we meet our maker in a fatal "accident."

Monday, October 08, 2007

Sizes: Club Monaco vs. H&M

Well by now you all should know that I am a "Club Monaco Ho." I can't get enough of that store. I think it has to do with my undying love of the 80s, which I feel "The Club" regularly invokes. I tend to visit the one down on Fifth Avenue, fly back to the sale section and try tons of stuff on, then allow myself one or two "full priced" items from the front. Even when things don't fit me, I don't curse them for mal-sizing. I feel like the sizes are fair - the bottoms are true, if not a bit generous, and the tops are perhaps a bit on the small side, but I tend to need bigger tops than bottoms, so I should blame my hulking back and not the store.

Then, even though I have sort of dissed it, I sometimes run across (yes, I RUN, like the wind!) the street to H&M where I sometimes find pants worth the mere $35 that they usually cost. However, I find that H&M is a little skimpy on the sizing - I can barely squeeze into an 8, which I can usually do without much fanfare at other stores. Often 10s are even too small.

Ladies, for those not in the know, the cheaper a store is, the more likely the sizes are going to be skimpy. Well, at least when you're dealing with most American, mass-market apparel.

Friday, October 05, 2007

Guerilla Shopper Turns One


And I didn't mention (but now I will) that Monday, October 1 was this blog's 1st birthday! Thanks to everyone who continues to click on the Google ad! Yay!

Arcade Fire on Randall's Island: Sat. Oct. 6

Thought this sounded like a good show, but my favorite part is that it costs a whole 50 cents less to order tickets in advance than on day-of.

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Target Commercial Interiors

Thought this was an interesting tidbit - Target doing corporate interior design and overhauling:

Designs on a New Market Niche --- Target's Little-Known Unit For Commercial Interiors Aims to Expand Its Business
By Ann Zimmerman
4 October 2007
The Wall Street Journal

Phoenix -- When the Arizona Diamondbacks decided to overhaul the interior of their 10-year-old baseball stadium last winter, the team's executives went to Target. Not one of the 1,500 retail stores around the country, but the retailer's less well-known commercial-interiors division.
Designers from Target Corp. spruced up the stadium's clubhouse, made the suite-level dining areas more inviting and hunted down a massive conference table for the team's boardroom.
While Target has built its brand as a purveyor of stylish-but-affordable apparel and mass-market merchandise, it has quietly carved out a profitable niche applying a similar philosophy to designing interiors for companies. Perhaps surprising for a company that caters to midmarket shoppers at its stores, much of its interiors work is at image-conscious businesses including some of America's largest companies and white-shoe law firms.
Now the unit, Target Commercial Interiors, is trying to broaden its reach to medium-size and small companies as well. And it's nudging its way into the spotlight with more jobs at sports venues, hotels and other sites in the public eye.
TCI, as it's known inside Target headquarters, is a relatively small part of the retailer, which had nearly $60 billion in sales last year. But the interiors business is growing in scope. The unit's more than 100 employees, many of them certified interior designers, don't shop at Target stores for their decorating supplies. But they do leverage the company's scale and sourcing ability to get good prices and find cutting-edge products -- an advantage in an industry dominated by regional and local design and architecture firms.
TCI, with offices across the street from Target's headquarters in Minneapolis, was previously Dayton Commercial Interiors, a 50-year-old unit of Target's original parent company, Dayton Hudson Corp. Since adopting the Target name in 2004, TCI's projects have included designing many areas in the Minneapolis headquarters of General Mills Inc.
TCI designers have been seeking out furniture and fixtures for a Minneapolis W hotel -- one of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.'s boutique hotels -- set to open next summer. Target's team tracked down sleek gray bureaus and round, hot-pink lacquered minibars for the rooms.
"With the Target name, the world is your oyster. The name is everywhere," says TCI President Joe Perdew. He says high-end clients haven't had any qualms about an association with a discount-store brand. "Many of our clients buy very nice, expensive wood furniture. You would think that they would balk at buying it from Target, but the problem never came up," he says.
TCI offers a full slate of design and decorating services, but frequently works with outside architects and designers.
The unit sees an opportunity in work for smaller companies because their options have been generally limited to office-supply stores or local office-furniture dealers, which tend to have a relatively narrow product range, says Ashok Dhariwal, TCI's vice president of operations.
As part of its effort to reach new customers, TCI opened its first office-furniture store in Bloomington, Minn., two years ago. The store -- branded Target Commercial Interiors -- carries professional-grade furnishings from about 20 manufacturers and a broad selection of merchandise, from wall art to 50 different models of office chairs. Some of the manufacturers' smaller, less-expensive items, such as $20 Adesso desk lamps, are also sold in Target's discount-chain stores.
Target says sales at the furniture store are running above expectations for the year, though it won't disclose numbers. And Target officials say they see great potential in the concept. However, there are obstacles to expansion. One key issue: Several furniture lines the store carries, such as Steelcase Inc., have exclusive agreements with furniture dealers in other cities.
Carl Bergauer, outgoing chairman of the Office Product Dealers Association, says TCI's approach is unique in the industry. "If it catches on, you'll see other dealers try to emulate it," he says.
But Mr. Bergauer, who is also president of Dallas-based Facility Logistix, an office-furniture company that supplies large and midsize companies, says Target faces challenges if it plans to expand its office-store concept outside its home market. "It's difficult to hire strong enough people in a retail environment, earning retail wages that also have the experience that's needed," he says. He adds that it's equally challenging to find installation and delivery services in different markets.
For some, the Target name is a leap when it comes to large-scale design and decorating projects. Jeffrey Moorad, the Diamondbacks' general partner and chief executive officer, admits he was taken aback when the team's chief operating officer Tom Garfinkel told him he was hiring Target to spruce up the stadium, bypassing companies that specialize in athletic facilities. "Now, I don't know what I like better, the job they did or what they charged us," says Mr. Moorad. He declined to reveal the price, and TCI says its rates are proprietary information.
Mr. Garfinkel learned about TCI in 2003 when he was working for Chip Ganassi Racing, an owner of car-racing teams in North Carolina, and TCI designed the interior of a new facility.
The Chase Field revamp came after a rebranding of the team that included changing its color to red from teal and purple. To emphasize the romance of the game, TCI designer Lynn Munyon replaced commercial-sponsor signs next to concession stands with big black-and-white photos of fans, in frames that can be updated with new images. Noise-inducing ceramic tiles were replaced with industrial-grade carpet tiles that can be changed as they get dirty.
The designers also found a way to avoid the expense of replacing the portable concession stands -- instead, they simply covered them with industrial adhesive paper in the new team color.
The challenge at Winthrop & Weinstine, a general practice and litigation law firm in Minneapolis, was to find furniture to suit the rich African cherry wood architects had used in the offices. Ms. Munyon found modular wood furniture that looked custom-made but cost less.
"Although Target is a discount store, this division is pretty high-end, yet affordable," says Becky Jenness, the law firm's executive director. The furniture for a partner's office, for example, cost about $15,000. "Architects are not always practical and functional," she says. "Target was both, and helped us come in under budget."

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Good Sales: Woodbury Commons & Betsey Johnson

From today's New York magazine's Best Bets Daily:

NEW TODAY
Hit upstate over the long weekend and save an additional 10 to 50 percent on already reduced Escada, MaxMara, and Michael Kors at Woodbury Common Premium Outlets.
When: 10/5–10/8; call for hours.
Where: 498 Red Apple Valley Ct., Central Valley, N.Y. (845-928-4000).

STARTING TOMORROW
Fun party frocks are up to 80 percent off at the Betsey Johnson warehouse; sequined strapless dresses were $375 but are now $95.
When: 10/4 and 10/5 (10–8).
Where: 263 W. 38th St., nr. Seventh Ave. (212-391-6495).

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

"Racked" Jabs Steve Madden


Racked, one of my favorite fellow shopping/retail blogs, has appropriately jabbed Steve Madden, and his (its?) new store on Ludlow Street: http://racked.com/archives/2007/10/01/now_open_steve_madden_on_rivin.php#more

I am not a fan of Steve Madden shoes. In fact, they annoy me almost as much as Skechers. Why? Because create and pimp cheesy "trend-of-the-moment" shoes in a low budget way that I feel cheapens the women who wear them. I also can't stand the word "Skechers" and will not allow anyone I know to purchase them.